Mixing RAM in PC

  • Thread starter Thread starter asdf
  • Start date Start date
A

asdf

right now have 2x512 Mb sticks of 333 mhz ram, 2 ms latency.
I want to add another stick of 1Ghz. Is it ok if the RAM i add is
2.5 latency or of different speed?
thank you
 
i'm not 100% sure about that, but I think it depends on your
motherboard or your ran type, but I am not sure because I am not very
experienced, having only built one pc so far. I had a question to add
to this one- I have 2 3 ms 512 MB DDR-SDRAM sticks in an Asus a8r-mvp,
and i want to add another gig but have more room for expansion, so i
was wondering if i can use a 1 gb additional single stick of RAM and
keep one slot empty for now???
 
asdf said:
right now have 2x512 Mb sticks of 333 mhz ram, 2 ms latency.
I want to add another stick of 1Ghz. Is it ok if the RAM i add is
2.5 latency or of different speed?
thank you
Click to expand...

The motherboard BIOS is supposed to pick the slowest settings,
after looking at all the RAM sticks. The BIOS will use
settings that are compatible with all the sticks. If the
slowest stick is CAS 2.5, then the BIOS will use CAS 2.5
as the setting.

You should note that some motherboards use a lower setting for
the memory clock, if you load up all the slots. The more memory
sticks you use (actually, the more _sides_ of memory), the
higher the load on the memory bus. Some motherboards automatically
downclock from DDR333 setting to DDR266. You may be able to go
into the BIOS and manually set the clock back again, to give
the DDR333 rate, but you should test the memory after doing that.
You can use memtest86+ from memtest.org , and prepare a test
floppy diskette, and immediately test your new memory when you
get it. Don't boot into Windows until you have tested the
new memory configuration of three sticks. Complete at least two
full passes (pass counter on the screen), with no errors
reported, before booting into Windows. If there are errors listed
on the screen, then adjust the memory timings or voltage until it
is fixed. If you are still having problems, test with only the
new memory present in the slot furthest from the processor.
If it still reports errors, return it to your vendor for a
replacement or refund.

On this page, you can see three memory products listed. The
cheap stuff on the right, uses 128Mx4 chips.

http://www.portatech.com/catalog/memory.asp?ID=285

Notice the warning printed on the right hand product - it says:

"Verify that you have a motherboard with xxx chipset"

The cheap RAM does not work with all chipsets. The two memory
products on the left, use 64Mx8 chips, and the resulting stick
is JEDEC compliant. The left and center sticks are more likely
to work well.

If you are buying memory from Ebay, be careful to verify the
chip type, and try to buy some good memory. There are Ebay
sellers who carry the 128Mx4 stuff.

Paul
 
Well first you could try but for me I have previously tried to put 2
SDRAMS of 128 with a speed of 333mhz but it never worked out it was
giving me a lue screen in Win XP. but first you have to try and see
whether it will work.
 
My mobo is p4pe

the ram that have in it right now is
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144104
Kingston HyperX 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 333 (PC 2700) Desktop Memory

I'm planning on getting this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820134040
Kingston HyperX 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory

also thought of going with patriot RAM here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220045
Patriot 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory
but think that getting the same brand will probably improve my chances of
having a stable system.

my motherboard only supports the speeds of upto 333Mhz.
 
asdf said:
right now have 2x512 Mb sticks of 333 mhz ram, 2 ms latency.
I want to add another stick of 1Ghz. Is it ok if the RAM i add is
2.5 latency or of different speed?
thank you
Click to expand...

In theory this should work, but every MB I've ever owned has been picky
about RAM and all you can do is trial and error. Recently I had one MB
where each 512mb stick had a preferred slot; one stick would only work
in slot 1. I can't logically explain half the weirdness I've seen with
memory it's so unpredictable, in fact I've started naming my memory
modules after women lol.

And also, try to get the same brand of memory for all your memory if
possible.
 
asdf said:
My mobo is p4pe

the ram that have in it right now is
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144104
Kingston HyperX 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 333 (PC 2700) Desktop Memory

I'm planning on getting this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820134040
Kingston HyperX 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory

also thought of going with patriot RAM here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220045
Patriot 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory
but think that getting the same brand will probably improve my chances of
having a stable system.

my motherboard only supports the speeds of upto 333Mhz.
Click to expand...

This tweaked my memory - I have to look at the P4PE manual...
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=P4PE

That is a "four sides only" motherboard. You cannot use
three double sided sticks in it. If you want 2GB total,
you would have to buy 2x1GB double sided, and sell your
existing 2x512MB.

When using double sided memory, they go in slot 1 and slot 2.
Two double sided sticks is "four sides". You can use one
double sided stick and two single sided sticks. Or you
can use two double sided sticks. Chances are, your
existing memory is double sided, and will limit your
upgrade options. (In other words, your existing memory
has already used up your available "four sides". Single
sided 512MB memory DIMMs are available, but not
very common.)

Other chipsets do not have this "four sided" limitation.
And then you would not have this problem. Chipsets
from VIA can handle six sides, or three slots of whatever
you want. But the Intel 845PE only has enough control
signals for four sides of memory.

If Asus had been smart, they would have designed the motherboard
with only two memory slots soldered to it. It would have been
much less confusing for users. Putting the third slot on
it was deceptive, as it can hardly be used (because most
of the memory people buy is double sided).

Sorry,
Paul
 
how can i make sure that my memory is either single sided or double sided.
Also, can i get that 1 Gb stick and put it in place of one of my 512 Mb
sticks.
This way i will still have 1.5 Gb of RAM and won't go over the limit.

Thank you very much
 
OK Here is what i've found in the manual

You may install any DDR DIMMs with 64, 128, 256, 512 and 1GB densities into
the DIMM sockets

DDR DIMM1 DDR DIMM2 DDR DIMM3
(Rows 0+1) (Rows 2&3) (Rows 3&2)
SS/DS DS None
SS/DS SS SS

SS-Single Sided
DS-Double Sided

1. DDR DIMM sockets 2 and 3 share the same rows so if you install a double
sided
DIMM into DIMM2 socket you must leave DIMM3 socket empty
2. You may install single sided DIMM into DIMM2 and DIMM3
sockets at the same time but neither can be x16 DDR module.
3. Double sided x 16 DDR DIMMs are not supported on this motherboard.
 
asdf said:
Here found some information on my RAM
http://www.kingston.com/hyperX/products/khx.asp

There are 2 different kinds of the ram i have
one is single sided and another is double sided. Not sure
which one i have though
Click to expand...

Look at the physical construction of your 512MB DIMMs.
Are there chips on both sides of the DIMM ? That is
what "double sided" means in an informal sense. That
is what I'm asking you to look for.

A 512MB single sided DIMM, has 8 chips on one side of
the DIMM only. The other side of the DIMM is blank.
(The chips used in this case, are 64Mx8 type.)

A 512MB double sided DIMM, has 16 chips total. 8 chips
are on one side of the module and 8 chips on the other
side. This is the most common (and cheapest) form of
512MB module. All the modules I have here are of that
type.

You can buy the single sided kind, but they are
harder to find.

As for your question, yes, you can use a double
sided 1GB DIMM plus a double sided 512MB DIMM.
Slot 3 remains empty. You get a total of 1.5GB.

Only you can decide if the system is low on memory.
If you do control-alt-delete, the Task Manager can show
you some info about the amount of memory used. (At
least on Win2K that I'm typing this on.) When I run
the BF2 demo, for example, Task Manager reports
about 600MB of 1GB are used. While I could upgrade
my machine to use more memory, I'm not sure it would
help me.

Paul
 
Back
Top